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In 2014, scientists from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and UCLA showed that a promising technique for accelerating electrons on waves of plasma is efficient enough to power a new generation of shorter, more economical accelerators. This is a milestone in demonstrating the practicality of plasma wakefield acceleration, a technique in which electrons gain energy by essentially surfing on a wave of electrons within an ionized gas.
Here, SLAC researchers Spencer Gessner, left, and Sebastien Corde monitor pairs of electron bunches sent into a plasma inside an oven of hot lithium gas at the Facility for Advanced Accelerator Experimental Tests (FACET). (Image courtesy SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

In 2014, scientists from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and UCLA showed that a promising technique for accelerating electrons on waves of plasma is efficient enough to power a new generation of shorter, more economical accelerators. This is a milestone in demonstrating the practicality of plasma wakefield acceleration, a technique in which electrons gain energy by essentially surfing on a wave of electrons within an ionized gas.
Here, SLAC researchers Michael Litos, left, and Sebastien Corde use a laser table at the Facility for Advanced Accelerator Experimental Tests (FACET) to create a plasma used for accelerating electrons to high energies in a very short distance. (Image courtesy SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

In 2014, scientists from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and UCLA showed that a promising technique for accelerating electrons on waves of plasma is efficient enough to power a new generation of shorter, more economical accelerators. This is a milestone in demonstrating the practicality of plasma wakefield acceleration, a technique in which electrons gain energy by essentially surfing on a wave of electrons within an ionized gas.
The simulation shown here depicts two electron bunches - containing 5 billion to 6 billion electrons each – that were accelerated by a laser-generated column of plasma inside an oven of hot lithium gas during experiments at SLAC. (Image courtesy SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

UK scientists have built a new facility aimed at understanding how particles from space can interact with electronic devices, and to investigate the chaos that cosmic rays can cause – such as taking communications satellites offline, wiping a device's memory or affecting aircraft electronics. ChipIR has successfully completed its first round of development testing before going in to full operation in 2015. Pictured here is the CHIPIR build on 10 April 2014
(Credit: STFC)

An overview of the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility. As part of Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPC) project, BSRF offers synchrotron light for a wide variety of important research in fields including biology, chemistry and materials science.
(Image credit: Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

The experimental hall of the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility. As part of Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPC) project, BSRF offers synchrotron light for a wide variety of important research in fields including biology, chemistry and materials science.
(Image credit: Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Adeyemi Adesanya (left) and Alf Wachsmann designed and built this multi-monitor array to showcase high-resolution playback of computer simulations at the SC'08 supercomputing conference. (Courtesy: SLAC)

A high-ranking delegation visits the tunnel of the FLASH facility. From left to right: Professor Albrecht Wagner, Chairman of the DESY Directorate, Dr. Annette Schavan, Federal German Minister of Education and Research, Professor Massimo Altarelli, Head of the European XFEL Project Team at DESY, Professor Alexander A. Fursenko, Russian research minister. (Courtesy DESY Hamburg)

On their slalom course through a periodic arrangement of magnets (undulator), the electron bunches emit radiation (photons) of a fixed wavelength. The photon beam travels in a straight line along the direction of the electron beam and overlaps with the electron bunch, causing it to take on the regular structure of the X-rays. A series of individual "discs" of charge is formed which radiate in synchrony, thus generating an intense laser beam.
(Courtesy DESY Hamburg)

Assembly of cryomodule for FLASH, a user facility providing laser-like radiation in the VUV and soft X-ray range to various user experiments in many scientific fields. It is also a pilot facility for the future XFEL. (Copyright 2006 DESY)

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